CD snow fun day! 2/24/18; Deming Eagle Park

The big trees, heavy with wet snow, waited patiently for our curious minds. When you’ve been standing there 500 years, give or take, what’s another hour? Notes a fact sheet from the Pacific Northwest Research Station, “No other forest has an entire group of tree species that equals the Pacific Northwest forest for their size and long lives.”

So much to look forward to as we motored along 542 in Merkel, one of Wild Whatcom’s trusty buses. We planned to try three ways to estimate the height of a tree; to study decomposition (see The Unseen World of the Fallen Tree, enclosed with Outing Report email); to examine the interrelationships among plants, mammals, birds, fungi, and more in the old growth ecosystem. Our day was to strike at the heart of Wild Whatcom’s purpose, “Connect and protect”.

“The best laid plans of mice and men…” 

As the sound of snow splashing up against Merkel’s underside grew more frequent, mentors Tim and Brian pulled the bus into a gas station to assess the risk of continuing east and decided, taking our cue from a few Boys Explorers Club mottos: “Safety first” and “Turn problems into possibilities” to double back to the Deming Homestead Eagle Preserve along the Nooksack for an impromptu day of snow play!

Among nature’s charms are its transformative simplicity and elegance. A few inches of fresh snow saw a cohort of Cave Dwellers and a few mentors morph into a scrum of snow fort-building, snowball-launching wild things. Strategies were devised and quickly abandoned; rules agreed and soon ignored; truces negotiated and reinterpreted. 

A break for lunch and then a game of Snootball (Snow-football), a testament to human ingenuity and childhood exuberance. Finally, hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows. 

We didn’t get to explore that special place but we were flexible and the boys enjoyed a dose of nature deficit disorder medicine — free time in the snow along our beloved Nooksack River.

Schedule notes:

• We have a lot going on in March. We return to Connelly Creek for service on Sunday, the 11th. 
• The following Sunday, March 18, will see us back on the bus to head up to Mt. Baker for our rescheduled snow cave outing.
• For our last outing of the year, on Sunday, May 20, I’ve replaced our planned N. Galbraith Mountain outing with a second attempt to get out to the Old Growth patch along 542. I’m confident the trees will wait. It should be spectacular in May!

Photo gallery here.